Chapter XVIII: Section II: Kābul666 (1)

910 AH.-JUNE 14TH 1504 TO JUNE 4TH 1505 AD.[667]

(_a. Bābur leaves Farghāna._)

In the month of Muḥarram, after leaving the Farghāna country [Sidenote: Ḥaidarābād MS. Fol. 120.] intending to go to Khurāsān, I dismounted at Aīlāk-yīlāq,[668] one of the summer pastures of Ḥiṣār. In this camp I entered my 23rd year, and applied the razor to my face.[669] Those who, hoping in me, went with me into exile, were, small and great, between 2 and 300; they were almost all on foot, had walking-staves in their hands, brogues[670] on their feet, and long coats[671] on their shoulders. So destitute were we that we had but two tents (_chādar_) amongst us; my own used to be pitched for my mother, and they set an _ālāchūq_ at each stage for me to sit in.[672]

Though we had started with the intention of going into Khurāsān, yet with things as they were[673] something was hoped for from the Ḥiṣār country and Khusrau Shāh's retainers. Every few days some-one would come in from the country or a tribe or the (Mughūl) horde, whose words made it probable that we had growing ground for hope. Just then Mullā Bābā of Pashāghar came back, who had been our envoy to Khusrau Shāh; from Khusrau Shāh he brought nothing likely to please, but he did from the tribes and the horde.

[Sidenote: Fol. 120b.] Three or four marches beyond Aīlāk, when halt was made at a place near Ḥiṣār called Khwāja `Imād, Muḥibb-`alī, the Armourer, came to me from Khusrau Shāh. Through Khusrau Shāh's territories I have twice happened to pass;[674] renowned though he was for kindness and liberality, he neither time showed me the humanity he had shown to the meanest of men.

As we were hoping something from the country and the tribes, we made delay at every stage. At this critical point Sherīm T̤aghāī, than whom no man of mine was greater, thought of leaving me because he was not keen to go into Khurāsān. He had sent all his family off and stayed himself unencumbered, when after the defeat at Sar-i-pul (906 AH.) I went back to defend Samarkand; he was a bit of a coward and he did this sort of thing several times over.

(_b. Bābur joined by one of Khusrau Shāh's kinsmen._)

After we reached Qabādīān, a younger brother of Khusrau Shāh, Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_, whose holdings were Chaghānīān,[675] Shahr-i-ṣafā and Tīrmīẕ, sent the _khatīb_[676] of Qarshī to me to express his good wishes and his desire for alliance, and, after we had crossed the Amū at the Aūbāj-ferry, he came himself to wait on me. By his wish we moved down the river to opposite Tīrmīẕ, where, without fear [or, without going over himself],[677] he had their families[678] and their goods brought across to join us. This done, we set out together for Kāhmard and Bāmīān, then held by his son[679] Aḥmad-i-qāsim, the son of Khusrau Shāh's sister. Our plan was to leave the households (_awī-aīl_) safe in Fort Ajar of the Kāhmard-valley and to take action wherever [Sidenote: Fol. 121.] action might seem well. At Aībak, Yār-`alī Balāl,[680] who had fled from Khusrau Shāh, joined us with several braves; he had been with me before, and had made good use of his sword several times in my presence, but was parted from me in the recent throneless times[681] and had gone to Khusrau Shāh. He represented to me that the Mughūls in Khusrau Shāh's service wished me well. Moreover, Qaṃbar-`alī Beg, known also as Qaṃbar-`alī _Silākh_ (Skinner), fled to me after we reached the Zindān-valley.[682]

(_c. Occurrences in Kākmard._)

We reached Kāhmard with three or four marches and deposited our households and families in Ajar. While we stayed there, Jahāngīr Mīrzā married (Aī Begīm) the daughter of Sl. Maḥmūd Mīrzā and Khān-zāda Begīm, who had been set aside for him during the lifetime of the Mīrzās.[683]

Meantime Bāqī Beg urged it upon me, again and again, that two rulers in one country, or two chiefs in one army are a source of faction and disorder—a foundation of dissension and ruin. "For they have said, 'Ten darwīshes can sleep under one blanket, but two kings cannot find room in one clime.'

If a man of God eat half a loaf,
He gives the other to a darwīsh;
Let a king grip the rule of a clime,
He dreams of another to grip."[684]

Bāqī Beg urged further that Khusrau Shāah's retainers and followers would be coming in that day or the next to take service with the Pādshāh (_i.e._ Bābur); that there were such [Sidenote: Fol. 121b.] sedition-mongers with them as the sons of Ayūb _Begchīk_, besides other who had been the stirrers and spurs to disloyalty amongst their Mīrzās,[685] and that if, at this point, Jahāngīr Mīrzā were dismissed, on good and friendly terms, for Khurāsān, it would remove a source of later repentance. Urge it as he would, however, I did not accept his suggestion, because it is against my nature to do an injury to my brethren, older or younger,[686] or to any kinsman soever, even when something untoward has happened. Though formerly between Jahāngīr Mīrzā and me, resentments and recriminations had occurred about our rule and retainers, yet there was nothing whatever then to arouse anger against him; he had come out of that country (_i.e._ Farghāna) with me and was behaving like a blood-relation and a servant. But in the end it was just as Bāqī Beg predicted;—those tempters to disloyalty, that is to say, Ayūb's Yūsuf and Ayūb's Bihlūl, left me for Jahāngīr Mīrzā, took up a hostile and mutinous position, parted him from me, and conveyed him into Khurāsān.

(_d. Co-operation invited against Shaibāq Khān._)

In those days came letters from Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, long and far-fetched letters which are still in my possession and in that [Sidenote: Fol. 122.] of others, written to Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā, myself, Khusrau Shāh and Ẕū'n-nūn Beg, all to the same purport, as follows:—"When the three brothers, Sl. Maḥmūd Mīrzā, Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā, and Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā, joined together and advanced against me, I defended the bank of the Murgh-āb[687] in such a way that they retired without being able to effect anything. Now if the Aūzbegs advance, I might myself guard the bank of the Murgh-āb again; let Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā leave men to defend the forts of Balkh, Shibarghān, and Andikhūd while he himself guards Girzawān, the Zang-valley, and the hill-country thereabouts." As he had heard of my being in those parts, he wrote to me also, "Do you make fast Kāhmard, Ajar, and that hill-tract; let Khusrau Shāh place trusty men in Ḥiṣār and Qūndūz; let his younger brother Walī make fast Badakhshān and the Khutlān hills; then the Aūzbeg will retire, able to do nothing."

These letters threw us into despair;—for why? Because at that time there was in Tīmūr Beg's territory (_yūrt_) no ruler so great as Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, whether by his years, armed strength, or dominions; it was to be expected, therefore, that envoys would go, treading on each other's heels, with clear and sharp orders, such as, "Arrange for so many boats at the Tīrmīz, [Sidenote: Fol. 122b.] Kilīf, and Kīrkī ferries," "Get any quantity of bridge material together," and "Well watch the ferries above Tūqūz-aūlūm,"[688] so that men whose spirit years of Aūzbeg oppression had broken, might be cheered to hope again.[689] But how could hope live in tribe or horde when a great ruler like Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, sitting in the place of Tīmūr Beg, spoke, not of marching forth to meet the enemy, but only of defence against his attack?

When we had deposited in Ajar what had come with us of hungry train (_aj aūrūq_) and household (_awī-aīl_), together with the families of Bāqī Beg, his son, Muḥ. Qāsim, his soldiers and his tribesmen, with all their goods, we moved out with our men.

(_e. Increase of Bābur's following._)

One man after another came in from Khusrau Shāh's Mughūls and said, "We of the Mughūl horde, desiring the royal welfare, have drawn off from T̤āīkhān (T̤ālīkān) towards Ishkīmīsh and Fūlūl. Let the Pādshāh advance as fast as possible, for the greater part of Khusrau Shāh's force has broken up and is ready to take service with him." Just then news arrived that Shaibāq Khān, after taking Andijān,[690] was getting to horse again against Ḥiṣār and Qūndūz. On hearing [Sidenote: Fol. 123.] this, Khusrau Shāh, unable to stay in Qūndūz, marched out with all the men he had, and took the road for Kābul. No sooner had he left than his old servant, the able and trusted Mullā Muḥammad _Turkistānī_ made Qūndūz fast for Shaibāq Khān.

Three or four thousand heads-of-houses in the Mughūl horde, former dependants of Khusrau Shāh, brought their families and joined us when, going by way of Sham-tū, we were near the Qīzīl-sū.[691]

(_f. Qaṃbar-`alī, the Skinner, dismissed._)

Qaṃbar-`alī Beg's foolish talk has been mentioned several times already; his manners were displeasing to Bāqī Beg; to gratify Bāqī Beg, he was dismissed. Thereafter his son, `Abdu'l-shukūr, was in Jahāngīr Mīrzā's service.

(_g. Khusrau Shāh waits on Bābur._)

Khusrau Shāh was much upset when he heard that the Mughūl horde had joined me; seeing nothing better to do for himself, he sent his son-in-law, Ayūb's Yaq`ūb, to make profession of well-wishing and submission to me, and respectfully to represent that he would enter my service if I would make terms and compact with him. His offer was accepted, because Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_ was a man of weight, and, however steady in his favourable disposition to me, did not overlook his brother's side in this matter. Compact was made that Khusrau Shāh's life should be safe, and that whatever amount of his goods he selected, should not be refused him. After giving Yaq`ūb leave to go, we marched down the Qīzīl-sū and dismounted near to where it joins the water of Andar-āb. [Sidenote: Fol. 123b.]

Next day, one in the middle of the First Rabī` (end of August, 1504 AD.), riding light, I crossed the Andar-āb water and took my seat under a large plane-tree near Dūshī, and thither came Khusrau Shāh, in pomp and splendour, with a great company of men. According to rule and custom, he dismounted some way off and then made his approach. Three times he knelt when we saw one another, three times also on taking leave; he knelt once when asking after my welfare, once again when he offered his tribute, and he did the same with Jahāngīr Mīrzā and with Mīrzā Khān (Wais). That sluggish old mannikin who through so many years had just pleased himself, lacking of sovereignty one thing only, namely, to read the _Khuṯba_ in his own name, now knelt 25 or 26 times in succession, and came and went till he was so wearied out that he tottered forward. His many years of begship and authority vanished from his view. When we had seen one another and he had offered his gift, I desired him to be seated. We stayed in that place for one or two _garīs_,[692] exchanging tale and talk. His conversation was vapid and empty, presumably because he was a coward and false to his salt. Two things he said were extraordinary for the time when, under his eyes, his trusty and trusted retainers were becoming mine, and when his affairs had reached the point that he, the sovereign-aping mannikin, had had to come, willy-nilly, abased and unhonoured, to what sort [Sidenote: Fol. 124.] of an interview! One of the things he said was this:—When condoled with for the desertion of his men, he replied, "Those very servants have four times left me and returned." The other was said when I had asked him where his brother Walī would cross the Amū and when he would arrive. "If he find a ford, he will soon be here, but when waters rise, fords change; the (Persian) proverb has it, 'The waters have carried down the fords.'" These words God brought to his tongue in that hour of the flowing away of his own authority and following!

After sitting a _garī_ or two, I mounted and rode back to camp, he for his part returning to his halting-place. On that day his begs, with their servants, great and small, good and bad, and tribe after tribe began to desert him and come, with their families, to me. Between the two Prayers of the next afternoon not a man remained in his presence.

"Say,—O God! who possessest the kingdom! Thou givest it to whom Thou wilt and Thou takest it from whom Thou wilt! In Thy hand is good, for Thou art almighty."[693]

Wonderful is His power! This man, once master of 20 or 30,000 retainers, once owning Sl. Maḥmūd's dominions from Qaḥlūgha,—known also as the Iron-gate,—to the range of [Sidenote: Fol. 124b.] Hindū-kush, whose old mannikin of a tax-gatherer, Ḥasan _Barlās_ by name, had made us march, had made us halt, with all the tax-gatherer's roughness, from Aīlāk to Aūbāj,[694] that man He so abased and so bereft of power that, with no blow struck, no sound made, he stood, without command over servants, goods, or life, in the presence of a band of 200 or 300 men, defeated and destitute as we were.

In the evening of the day on which we had seen Khusrau Shāh and gone back to camp, Mīrzā Khān came to my presence and demanded vengeance on him for the blood of his brothers.[695] Many of us were at one with him, for truly it is right, both by Law and common justice, that such men should get their desserts, but, as terms had been made, Khusrau Shāh was let go free. An order was given that he should be allowed to take whatever of his goods he could convey; accordingly he loaded up, on three or four strings of mules and camels, all jewels, gold, silver, and precious things he had, and took them with him.[696] Sherīm T̤aghāī was told off to escort him, who after setting Khusrau Shāh on his road for Khurāsān, by way of Ghūrī and Dahānah, was to go to Kāhmard and bring the families after us to Kābul.

(_h. Bābur marches for Kābul._)

Marching from that camp for Kābul, we dismounted in Khwāja Zaid.

On that day, Ḥamza Bī _Mangfīt_,[697] at the head of Aūzbeg raiders, was over-running round about Dūshī. Sayyid Qāsim, the Lord of the Gate, and Aḥmad-i-qāsim _Kohbur_ were sent [Sidenote: Fol. 125.] with several braves against him; they got up with him, beat his Aūzbegs well, cut off and brought in a few heads.

In this camp all the armour (_jība_) of Khusrau Shāh's armoury was shared out. There may have been as many as 7 or 800 coats-of-mail (_joshan_) and horse accoutrements (_kūhah_);[698] these were the one thing he left behind; many pieces of porcelain also fell into our hands, but, these excepted, there was nothing worth looking at.

With four or five marches we reached Ghūr-bund, and there dismounted in Ushtur-shahr. We got news there that Muqīm's chief beg, Sherak (var. Sherka) _Arghūn_, was lying along the Bārān, having led an army out, not through hearing of me, but to hinder `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā from passing along the Panjhīr-road, he having fled from Kābul[699] and being then amongst the Tarkalānī Afghāns towards Lamghān. On hearing this we marched forward, starting in the afternoon and pressing on through the dark till, with the dawn, we surmounted the Hūpīān-pass.[700]

I had never seen Suhail;[701] when I came out of the pass I saw a star, bright and low. "May not that be Suhail?" said I. Said they, "It is Suhail." Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_ recited this couplet;—[702]

"How far dost thou shine, O Suhail, and where dost thou rise?
A sign of good luck is thine eye to the man on whom it may light."

The Sun was a spear's-length high[703] when we reached the foot of the Sanjid (Jujube)-valley and dismounted. Our scouting [Sidenote: Fol. 125b.] braves fell in with Sherak below the Qarā-bāgh,[704] near Aīkarī-yār, and straightway got to grips with him. After a little of some sort of fighting, our men took the upper hand, hurried their adversaries off, unhorsed 70-80 serviceable braves and brought them in. We gave Sherak his life and he took service with us.

(_i. Death of Walī of Khusrau._)

The various clans and tribes whom Khusrau Shāh, without troubling himself about them, had left in Qūndūz, and also the Mughūl horde, were in five or six bodies (_būlāk_). One of those belonging to Badakhshān,—it was the Rūstā-hazāra,:—came, with Sayyidīm `Alī _darbān_,[705] across the Panjhīr-pass to this camp, did me obeisance and took service with me. Another body came under Ayūb's Yūsuf and Ayūb's Bihlūl; it also took service with me. Another came from Khutlān, under Khusrau Shāh's younger brother, Walī; another, consisting of the (Mughūl) tribesmen (_aīmāq_) who had been located in Yīlānchaq, Nikdiri (?), and the Qūndūz country, came also. The last-named two came by Andar-āb and Sar-i-āb,[706] meaning to cross by the Panjhīr-pass; at Sar-i-āb the tribesmen were ahead; Walī came up behind; they held the road, fought and beat him. He himself fled to the Aūzbegs,[707] and Shaibāq Khān had his head struck off in the Square (_Chār-sū_) of Samarkand; his followers, beaten and plundered, came on with the tribesmen, and like these, took service with me. With them came Sayyid [Sidenote: Fol. 126.] Yūsuf Beg (the Grey-wolfer).

(_j. Kābul gained._)

From that camp we marched to the Āq-sarāī meadow of the Qarā-bāgh and there dismounted. Khusrau Shāh's people were well practised in oppression and violence; they tyrannized over one after another till at last I had up one of Sayyidīm `Alī's good braves to my Gate[708] and there beaten for forcibly taking a jar of oil. There and then he just died under the blows; his example kept the rest down.

We took counsel in that camp whether or not to go at once against Kābul. Sayyid Yūsuf and some others thought that, as winter was near, our first move should be into Lamghān, from which place action could be taken as advantage offered. Bāqī Beg and some others saw it good to move on Kābul at once; this plan was adopted; we marched forward and dismounted in Ābā-qūrūq.

My mother and the belongings left behind in Kāhmard rejoined us at Ābā-qūrūq. They had been in great danger, the particulars of which are these:—Sherīm T̤aghāī had gone to set Khusrau Shāh on his way for Khurāsān, and this done, was to fetch the families from Kāhmard. When he reached Dahānah, he found he was not his own master; Khusrau Shāh went on with him into Kāhmard, where was his sister's son, Aḥmad-i-qāsim. These two took up an altogether wrong [Sidenote: Fol. 126b.] position towards the families in Kāhmard. Hereupon a number of Bāqī Beg's Mughūls, who were with the families, arranged secretly with Sherīm T̤aghāī to lay hands on Khusrau Shāh and Aḥmad-i-qāsim. The two heard of it, fled along the Kāhmard-valley on the Ajar side[709] and made for Khurāsān. To bring this about was really what Sherīm T̤aghāī and the Mughūls wanted. Set free from their fear of Khusrau Shāh by his flight, those in charge of the families got them out of Ajar, but when they reached Kāhmard, the Sāqānchī (var. Asīqanchī) tribe blocked the road, like an enemy, and plundered the families of most of Bāqī Beg's men.[710] They made prisoner Qul-i-bāyazīd's little son, Tīzak; he came into Kābul three or four years later. The plundered and unhappy families crossed by the Qībchāq-pass, as we had done, and they rejoined us in Ābā-qūrūq.

Leaving that camp we went, with one night's halt, to the Chālāk-meadow, and there dismounted. After counsel taken, it was decided to lay siege to Kābul, and we marched forward. With what men of the centre there were, I dismounted between Ḥaidar _Tāqī's_[711] garden and the tomb of Qul-i-bāyazīd, the Taster (_bakāwal_);[712] Jahāngīr Mīrzā, with the men of the right, [Sidenote: Fol. 127.] dismounted in my great Four-gardens (_Chār-bāgh_), Nāṣir Mīrzā, with the left, in the meadow of Qūtlūq-qadam's tomb. People of ours went repeatedly to confer with Muqīm; they sometimes brought excuses back, sometimes words making for agreement. His tactics were the sequel of his dispatch, directly after Sherak's defeat, of a courier to his father and elder brother (in Qandahār); he made delays because he was hoping in them.

One day our centre, right, and left were ordered to put on their mail and their horses' mail, to go close to the town, and to display their equipment so as to strike terror on those within. Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the right went straight forward by the Kūcha-bāgh;[713] I, with the centre, because there was water, went along the side of Qūtlūq-qadam's tomb to a mound facing the rising-ground;[714] the van collected above Qūtlūq-qadam's bridge,—at that time, however, there was no bridge. When the braves, showing themselves off, galloped close up to the Curriers'-gate,[715] a few who had come out through it fled in again without making any stand. A crowd of Kābulīs who had come out to see the sight raised a great dust when they ran away from the high slope of the glacis of the citadel (_i.e._ Bālā-ḥiṣār). A number of pits had been dug up the rise [Sidenote: Fol. 127b.] between the bridge and the gate, and hidden under sticks and rubbish; Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_ and several others were thrown as they galloped over them. A few braves of the right exchanged sword-cuts with those who came out of the town, in amongst the lanes and gardens, but as there was no order to engage, having done so much, they retired.

Those in the fort becoming much perturbed, Muqīm made offer through the begs, to submit and surrender the town. Bāqī Beg his mediator, he came and waited on me, when all fear was chased from his mind by our entire kindness and favour. It was settled that next day he should march out with retainers and following, goods and effects, and should make the town over to us. Having in mind the good practice Khusrau Shāh's retainers had had in indiscipline and longhandedness, we appointed Jahāngīr Mīrzā and Nāṣir Mīrzā with the great and household begs, to escort Muqīm's family out of Kābul[716] and to bring out Muqīm himself with his various dependants, goods and effects. Camping-ground was assigned to him at Tīpa.[717] When the Mīrzās and the Begs went at dawn to the Gate, they saw much mobbing and tumult of the common people, so they sent me a man to say, "Unless you come yourself, there will be no holding these people in." In the end I got to horse, had two or three persons shot, two or three cut in pieces, and so stamped the rising down. Muqīm and his belongings then got out, safe and sound, [Sidenote: Fol. 128.] and they betook themselves to Tīpa.

It was in the last ten days of the Second Rabī` (Oct. 1504 AD.)[718] that without a fight, without an effort, by Almighty God's bounty and mercy, I obtained and made subject to me Kābul and Ghaznī and their dependent districts.

DESCRIPTION OF KĀBUL[719]

The Kābul country is situated in the Fourth climate and in the midst of cultivated lands.[720] On the east it has the Lamghānāt,[721] Parashāwar (Pashāwar), Hash(t)-nagar and some of the countries of Hindūstān. On the west it has the mountain region in which are Karnūd (?) and Ghūr, now the refuge and dwelling-places of the Hazāra and Nikdīrī (var. Nikudārī) tribes. On the north, separated from it by the range of Hindū-kush, it has the Qūndūz and Andar-āb countries. On the south, it has Farmūl, Naghr (var. Naghz), Bannū and Afghānistān.[722]

(_a. Town and environs of Kābul._)

The Kābul district itself is of small extent, has its greatest length from east to west, and is girt round by mountains. Its walled-town connects with one of these, rather a low one known as Shāh-of-Kābul because at some time a (Hindū) Shāh of Kābul built a residence on its summit.[723] Shāh-of-Kābul begins at the Dūrrīn narrows and ends at those of Dih-i-yaq`ūb[724]; it may be 4 miles (2 _shar`ī_) round; its skirt is covered with gardens fertilized from a canal which was brought along the hill-slope in the time of my paternal uncle, Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā by his guardian, Wais Atāka.[725] The water of this canal comes to an end in a retired corner, a quarter known as Kul-kīna[726] where much debauchery has gone on. About this place it [Sidenote: Fol. 128b.] sometimes used to be said, in jesting parody of Khwāja Ḥāfiẓ[727],—"Ah! the happy, thoughtless time when, with our names in ill-repute, we lived days of days at Kul-kīna!"

East of Shāh-of-Kabūl and south of the walled-town lies a large pool[728] about a 2 miles [_shar`ī_] round. From the town side of the mountain three smallish springs issue, two near Kul-kīna; Khwāja Shamū's[729] tomb is at the head of one; Khwāja Khiẓr's Qadam-gāh[730] at the head of another, and the third is at a place known as Khwāja Raushānāī, over against Khwāja `Abdu'ṣ-ṣamad. On a detached rock of a spur of Shāh-of-Kābul, known as `Uqābain,[731] stands the citadel of Kābul with the great walled-town at its north end, lying high in excellent air, and overlooking the large pool already mentioned, and also three meadows, namely, Siyāh-sang (Black-rock), Sūng-qūrghān (Fort-back), and Chālāk (Highwayman?),—a most beautiful outlook when the meadows are green. The north-wind does not fail Kābul in the heats; people call it the Parwān-wind[732]; it makes a delightful temperature in the windowed houses on the northern part of the citadel. In praise of the citadel of Kābul, Mullā Muḥammad _T̤ālib Mu`ammāī_ (the Riddler)[733]

[Sidenote: Fol. 129.] used to recite this couplet, composed on Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's name:—

Drink wine in the castle of Kābul and send the cup round
without pause;
For Kābul is mountain, is river, is city, is lowland in one.[734]

(_b. Kābul as a trading-town._)

Just as `Arabs call every place outside `Arab (Arabia), `Ajam, so Hindūstānīs call every place outside Hindūstān, Khurāsān. There are two trade-marts on the land-route between Hindūstān and Khurāsān; one is Kābul, the other, Qandahār. To Kābul caravans come from Kāshghar,[735] Farghāna,Turkistān, Samarkand, Bukhārā, Balkh, Ḥiṣār and Badakhshān. To Qandahār they come from Khurāsān. Kābul is an excellent trading-centre; if merchants went to Khīta or to Rūm,[736] they might make no higher profit. Down to Kābul every year come 7, 8, or 10,000 horses and up to it, from Hindūstān, come every year caravans of 10, 15 or 20,000 heads-of-houses, bringing slaves (_barda_), white cloth, sugar-candy, refined and common sugars, and aromatic roots. Many a trader is not content with a profit of 30 or 40 on 10.[737] In Kābul can be had the products of Khurāsān, Rūm, `Irāq and Chīn (China); while it is Hindūstān's own market.

(_c. Products and climate of Kābul._)

In the country of Kābul, there are hot and cold districts close to one another. In one day, a man may go out of the town of Kābul to where snow never falls, or he may go, in two sidereal [Sidenote: Fol. 129b.] hours, to where it never thaws, unless when the heats are such that it cannot possibly lie.

Fruits of hot and cold climates are to be had in the districts near the town. Amongst those of the cold climate, there are had in the town the grape, pomegranate, apricot, apple, quince, pear, peach, plum, _sinjid_, almond and walnut.[738] I had cuttings of the _ālū-bālū_[739] brought there and planted; they grew and have done well. Of fruits of the hot climate people bring into the town;—from the Lamghānāt, the orange, citron, _amlūk_ (_diospyrus lotus_), and sugar-cane; this last I had had brought and planted there;[740]—from Nijr-au (Nijr-water), they bring the _jīl-ghūza,[741] and, from the hill-tracts, much honey. Bee-hives are in use; it_ is only from towards Ghaznī, that no honey comes.

The rhubarb[742] of the Kābul district is good, its quinces and plums very good, so too its _badrang_;[743] it grows an excellent grape, known as the water-grape.[744] Kābul wines are heady, those of the Khwāja Khāwand Sa`īd hill-skirt being famous for their strength; at this time however I can only repeat the praise of others about them:—[745]

The flavour of the wine a drinker knows;
What chance have sober men to know it?

Kābul is not fertile in grain, a four or five-fold return is reckoned good there; nor are its melons first-rate, but they are not altogether bad when grown from Khurāsān seed.

It has a very pleasant climate; if the world has another so pleasant, it is not known. Even in the heats, one cannot sleep at night without a fur-coat.[746] Although the snow in most places lies deep in winter, the cold is not excessive; whereas in [Sidenote: Fol. 130.] Samarkand and Tabrīz, both, like Kābul, noted for their pleasant climate, the cold is extreme.

(_d. Meadows of Kābul._)

There are good meadows on the four sides of Kābul. An excellent one, Sūng-qūrghān, is some 4 miles (2 _kuroh_) to the north-east; it has grass fit for horses and few mosquitos. To the north-west is the Chālāk meadow, some 2 miles (1 _shar`ī_) away, a large one but in it mosquitos greatly trouble the horses. On the west is the Dūrrīn, in fact there are two, Tīpa and Qūsh-nādir (var. nāwar),—if two are counted here, there would be five in all. Each of these is about 2 miles from the town; both are small, have grass good for horses, and no mosquitos; Kābul has no others so good. On the east is the Siyāh-sang meadow with Qūtlūq-qadam's tomb[747] between it and the Currier's-gate; it is not worth much because, in the heats, it swarms with mosquitos. Kamarī[748] meadow adjoins it; counting this in, the meadows of Kābul would be six, but they are always spoken of as four.

(_e. Mountain-passes into Kābul._)

The country of Kābul is a fastness hard for a foreign foe to make his way into.

The Hindū-kush mountains, which separate Kābul from Balkh, Qūndūz and Badakhshān, are crossed by seven roads.[749] Three of these lead out of Panjhīr (Panj-sher), _viz._ Khawāk, the uppermost, T̤ūl, the next lower, and Bāzārak.[750] Of the passes on them, the one on the T̤ūl road is the best, but the road itself is rather [Sidenote: Fol. 130b.] the longest whence, seemingly, it is called T̤ūl. Bāzārak is the most direct; like T̤ūl, it leads over into Sar-i-āb; as it passes through Pārandī, local people call its main pass, the Pārandī. Another road leads up through Parwān; it has seven minor passes, known as Haft-bacha (Seven-younglings), between Parwān and its main pass (Bāj-gāh). It is joined at its main pass by two roads from Andar-āb, which go on to Parwān by it. This is a road full of difficulties. Out of Ghūr-bund, again, three roads lead over. The one next to Parwān, known as the Yāngī-yūl pass (New-road), goes through Wālīān to Khinjan; next above this is the Qīpchāq road, crossing to where the water of Andar-āb meets the Sūrkh-āb (Qīzīl-sū); this also is an excellent road; and the third leads over the Shibr-tū pass;[751] those crossing by this in the heats take their way by Bāmīān and Saighān, but those crossing by it in winter, go on by Āb-dara (Water-valley).[752] Shibr-tū excepted, all the Hindū-kush roads are closed for three or four months in winter,[753] because no road through a valley-bottom is passable when the waters are high. If any-one thinks to cross the Hindū-kush at that time, over the mountains instead of through a valley-bottom, his journey is hard indeed. The time to cross is during the three or four autumn months when the snow is less and the waters are low. [Sidenote: Fol. 131.] Whether on the mountains or in the valley-bottoms, Kāfir highwaymen are not few.

The road from Kābul into Khurāsān passes through Qandahār; it is quite level, without a pass.

Four roads lead into Kābul from the Hindūstān side; one by rather a low pass through the Khaibar mountains, another by way of Bangash, another by way of Naghr (var. Naghz),[754] and another through Farmūl;[755] the passes being low also in the three last-named. These roads are all reached from three ferries over the Sind. Those who take the Nīl-āb[756] ferry, come on through the Lamghānāt.[757] In winter, however, people ford the Sind-water (at Hāru) above its junction with the Kābul-water,[758] and ford this also. In most of my expeditions into Hindūstān, I crossed those fords, but this last time (932 AH.-1525 AD.), when I came, defeated Sl. Ibrāhīm and conquered the country, I crossed by boat at Nīl-āb. Except at the one place mentioned above, the Sind-water can be crossed only by boat. Those again, who cross at Dīn-kot[759] go on through Bangash. Those crossing at Chaupāra, if they take the Farmūl road, go on to Ghaznī, or, if they go by the Dasht, go on to Qandahār.[760]

(_f. Inhabitants of Kābul._)

There are many differing tribes in the Kābul country; in its dales and plains are Turks and clansmen[761] and `Arabs; in its town and in many villages, Sārts; out in the districts and also [Sidenote: Fol. 131b.] in villages are the Pashāī, Parājī, Tājīk, Bīrkī and Afghān tribes. In the western mountains are the Hazāra and Nikdīrī tribes, some of whom speak the Mughūlī tongue. In the north-eastern mountains are the places of the Kāfirs, such as Kitūr (Gawār?) and Gibrik. To the south are the places of the Afghān tribes.

Eleven or twelve tongues are spoken in Kābul,—`Arabī, Persian, Turkī, Mughūlī, Hindī, Afghānī, Pashāī, Parājī, Gibrī, Bīrkī and Lamghānī. If there be another country with so many differing tribes and such a diversity of tongues, it is not known.

(_e. Sub-divisions of the Kābul country._)

The [Kābul] country has fourteen _tūmāns_.[762]

Bajaur, Sawād and Hash-nagar may at one time have been dependencies of Kābul, but they now have no resemblance to cultivated countries (_wilāyāt_), some lying desolate because of the Afghāns, others being now subject to them.

In the east of the country of Kābul is the Lamghānāt, 5 _tūmāns_ and 2 _bulūks_ of cultivated lands.[763] The largest of these is Nīngnahār, sometimes written Nagarahār in the histories.[764] Its _dārogha's_ residence is in Adīnapūr,[765] some 13 _yīghāch_ east of Kābul by a very bad and tiresome road, going in three or four places over small hill-passes, and in three or four others, through [Sidenote: Fol. 132.] narrows.[766] So long as there was no cultivation along it, the Khirilchī and other Afghān thieves used to make it their beat, but it has become safe[767] since I had it peopled at Qarā-tū,[768] below Qūrūq-sāī. The hot and cold climates are separated on this road by the pass of Bādām-chashma (Almond-spring); on its Kābul side snow falls, none at Qūrūq-sāī, towards the Lamghānāt.[769] After descending this pass, another world comes into view, other trees, other plants (or grasses), other animals, and other manners and customs of men. Nīngnahār is nine torrents (_tūqūz-rūd_).[770] It grows good crops of rice and corn, excellent and abundant oranges, citrons and pomegranates. In 914 AH. (1508-9 AD.) I laid out the Four-gardens, known as the Bāgh-i-wafā (Garden-of-fidelity), on a rising-ground, facing south and having the Sūrkh-rūd between it and Fort Adīnapūr.[771] There oranges, citrons and pomegranates grow in abundance. The year I defeated Pahār Khān and took Lāhor and Dipālpūr,[772] I had plantains (bananas) brought and planted there; they did very well. The year before I had had sugar-cane planted there; it also did well; some of it was sent to Bukhārā and Badakhshān.[773] The garden lies high, has running-water close at hand, and a mild winter [Sidenote: Fol. 132b.] climate. In the middle of it, a one-mill stream flows constantly past the little hill on which are the four garden-plots. In the south-west part of it there is a reservoir, 10 by 10,[774] round which are orange-trees and a few pomegranates, the whole encircled by a trefoil-meadow. This is the best part of the garden, a most beautiful sight when the oranges take colour. Truly that garden is admirably situated!

The Safed-koh runs along the south of Nīngnahār, dividing it from Bangash; no riding-road crosses it; nine torrents (_tūqūz-rūd_) issue from it.[775] It is called Safed-koh[776] because its snow never lessens; none falls in the lower parts of its valleys, a half-day's journey from the snow-line. Many places along it have an excellent climate; its waters are cold and need no ice.

The Sūrkh-rūd flows along the south of Adīnapūr. The fort stands on a height having a straight fall to the river of some 130 ft. (40-50 _qārī_) and isolated from the mountain behind it on the north; it is very strongly placed. That mountain runs between Nīngnahār and Lamghān[777]; on its head snow falls when it snows [Sidenote: Fol. 133.] in Kābul, so Lamghānīs know when it has snowed in the town.

In going from Kābul into the Lamghānāt,[778]—if people come by Qūrūq-sāī, one road goes on through the Dīrī-pass, crosses the Bārān-water at Būlān, and so on into the Lamghānāt,—another goes through Qarā-tū, below Qūrūq-sāī, crosses the Bārān-water at Aūlūgh-nūr (Great-rock?), and goes into Lamghān by the pass of Bād-i-pīch.[779] If however people come by Nijr-aū, they traverse Badr-aū (Tag-aū), and Qarā-nakariq (?), and go on through the pass of Bād-i-pīch.

Although Nīngnahār is one of the five _tūmāns_ of the Lamghān _tūmān_ the name Lamghānāt applies strictly only to the three (mentioned below).

One of the three is the `Alī-shang _tūmān_, to the north of which are fastness-mountains, connecting with Hindū-kush and inhabited by Kāfirs only. What of Kāfiristān lies nearest to `Alī-shang, is Mīl out of which its torrent issues. The tomb of Lord Lām,[780] father of his Reverence the prophet Nuḥ (Noah), is in this _tūmān_. In some histories he is called Lamak and Lamakān. Some people are observed often to change _kāf_ for _ghain_ (_k_ for _gh_); it would seem to be on this account that the country is called Lamghān.

The second is Alangār. The part of Kāfiristān nearest to it is Gawār (Kawār), out of which its torrent issues (the Gau or Kau). This torrent joins that of `Alī-shang and flows with it [Sidenote: Fol. 133b.] into the Bārān-water, below Mandrāwar, which is the third _tūmān_ of the Lamghānāt.

Of the two _bulūks_ of Lamghān one is the Nūr-valley.[781] This is a place (_yīr_) without a second[782]; its fort is on a beak (_tūmshūq_) of rock in the mouth of the valley, and has a torrent on each side; its rice is grown on steep terraces, and it can be traversed by one road only.[783] It has the orange, citron and other fruits of hot climates in abundance, a few dates even. Trees cover the banks of both the torrents below the fort; many are _amlūk_, the fruit of which some Turks call _qarā-yīmīsh_;[784] here they are many, but none have been seen elsewhere. The valley grows grapes also, all trained on trees.[785] Its wines are those of Lamghān that have reputation. Two sorts of grapes are grown, the _arah-tāshī_ and the _sūhān-tāshī_;[786] the first are yellowish, the second, full-red of fine colour. The first make the more cheering wine, but it must be said that neither wine equals its reputation for cheer. High up in one of its glens, apes (_maimūn_) are found, none below. Those people (_i.e._ Nūrīs) used to keep swine but they have given it up in our time.[787]

Another _tūmān_ of Lamghān is Kūnār-with-Nūr-gal. It lies somewhat out-of-the-way, remote from the Lamghānāt, with its borders in amongst the Kāfir lands; on these accounts its people give in tribute rather little of what they have. The Chaghān-sarāī [Sidenote: Fol. 134.] water enters it from the north-east, passes on into the _bulūk_ of Kāma, there joins the Bārān-water and with that flows east.

Mīr Sayyid `Alī _Hamadānī_,[788]—God's mercy on him!—coming here as he journeyed, died 2 miles (1 _shar`ī_) above Kūnār. His disciples carried his body to Khutlān. A shrine was erected at the honoured place of his death, of which I made the circuit when I came and took Chaghān-sarāī in 920 AH.[789]

The orange, citron and coriander[790] abound in this _tūmān_. Strong wines are brought down into it from Kāfiristān.

A strange thing is told there, one seeming impossible, but one told to us again and again. All through the hill-country above Multa-kundī, _viz._ in Kūnār, Nūr-gal, Bajaur, Sawād and thereabouts, it is commonly said that when a woman dies and has been laid on a bier, she, if she has not been an ill-doer, gives the bearers such a shake when they lift the bier by its four sides, that against their will and hindrance, her corpse falls to the ground; but, if she has done ill, no movement occurs. This was heard not only from Kūnārīs but, again and again, in Bajaur, [Sidenote: Fol. 134b.] Sawād and the whole hill-tract. Ḥaidar-`alī _Bajaurī_,—a sulṯān who governed Bajaur well,—when his mother died, did not weep, or betake himself to lamentation, or put on black, but said, "Go! lay her on the bier! if she move not, I will have her burned."[792] They laid her on the bier; the desired movement followed; when he heard that this was so, he put on black and betook himself to lamentation.

(_Authors note to Multa-kundī._) As Multa-kundī is known the
lower part of the _tūmān_ of Kūnār-with-Nūr-gal; what is below
(_i.e._ on the river) belongs to the valley of Nūr and to
Atar.[791]

Another _bulūk_ is Chaghān-sarāī,[793] a single village with little land, in the mouth of Kāfiristān; its people, though Muṣalmān, mix with the Kāfirs and, consequently, follow their customs.[794] A great torrent (the Kūnār) comes down to it from the north-east from behind Bajaur, and a smaller one, called Pīch, comes down out of Kāfiristān. Strong yellowish wines are had there, not in any way resembling those of the Nūr-valley, however. The village has no grapes or vineyards of its own; its wines are all brought from up the Kāfiristān-water and from Pīch-i-kāfiristānī.

The Pīch Kāfirs came to help the villagers when I took the place. Wine is so commonly used there that every Kāfir has his leathern wine-bag (_khīg_) at his neck, and drinks wine instead of water.[795]

Kāma, again, though not a separate district but dependent on Nīngnahār, is also called a _bulūk_.[796] [Sidenote: Fol. 135.]

Nijr-aū[797] is another _tūmān_. It lies north of Kābul, in the Kohistān, with mountains behind it inhabited solely by Kāfirs; it is a quite sequestered place. It grows grapes and fruits in abundance. Its people make much wine but, they boil it. They fatten many fowls in winter, are wine-bibbers, do not pray, have no scruples and are Kāfir-like.[798]

In the Nijr-aū mountains is an abundance of _archa_, _jīlghūza_, _bīlūt_ and _khanjak_.[799] The first-named three do not grow above Nigr-aū but they grow lower, and are amongst the trees of Hindūstān. _Jīlghūza_-wood is all the lamp the people have; it burns like a candle and is very remarkable. The flying-squirrel[800] is found in these mountains, an animal larger than a bat and having a curtain (_parda_), like a bat's wing, between its arms and legs. People often brought one in; it is said to fly, downward from one tree to another, as far as a _giz_ flies;[801] I myself have never seen one fly. Once we put one to a tree; it clambered up directly and got away, but, when people went after it, it spread its wings and came down, without hurt, as if it had flown. Another of the curiosities of the Nijr-aū mountains is the _lūkha_ (var. _lūja_) bird, called also _bū-qalamūn_ (chameleon) because, between head and tail, it has four or five changing colours, resplendent like a pigeon's throat.[802] It is about as large as the _kabg-i-darī_ and seems to be the _kabg-i-darī_ of Hindūstān.[803] People tell this wonderful thing about it:—When the birds, at [Sidenote: Fol. 135b.] the on-set of winter, descend to the hill-skirts, if they come over a vineyard, they can fly no further and are taken.[804] There is a kind of rat in Nijr-aū, known as the musk-rat, which smells of musk; I however have never seen it.[805]

Panjhīr (Panj-sher) is another _tūmān_; it lies close to Kāfiristān, along the Panjhīr road, and is the thoroughfare of Kāfir highwaymen who also, being so near, take tax of it. They have gone through it, killing a mass of persons, and doing very evil deeds, since I came this last time and conquered Hindūstān (932 AH.-1526 AD.).[806]

Another is the _tūmān_ of Ghūr-bund. In those countries they call a _kūtal_ (_koh_?) a _bund_;[807] they go towards Ghūr by this pass (_kūtal_); apparently it is for this reason that they have called (the _tūmān_?) Ghūr-bund. The Hazāra hold the heads of its valleys.[808] It has few villages and little revenue can be raised from it. There are said to be mines of silver and lapis lazuli in its mountains.

Again, there are the villages on the skirts of the (Hindū-kush) mountains,[809] with Mīta-kacha and Parwān at their head, and Dūr-nāma[810] at their foot, 12 or 13 in all. They are fruit-bearing villages, and they grow cheering wines, those of Khwāja Khāwand Sa`īd being reputed the strongest roundabouts. The villages all lie on the foot-hills; some pay taxes but not all are taxable because they lie so far back in the mountains.

Between the foot-hills and the Bārān-water are two detached stretches of level land, one known as _Kurrat-tāziyān_,[811] the other as _Dasht-i-shaikh_ (Shaikh's-plain). As the green grass of the millet[812] grows well there, they are the resort of Turks and [Sidenote: Fol. 136.] (Mughūl) clans (_aīmāq_).

Tulips of many colours cover these foot-hills; I once counted them up; it came out at 32 or 33 different sorts. We named one the Rose-scented, because its perfume was a little like that of the red rose; it grows by itself on Shaikh's-plain, here and nowhere else. The Hundred-leaved tulip is another; this grows, also by itself, at the outlet of the Ghūr-bund narrows, on the hill-skirt below Parwān. A low hill known as Khwāja Reg-i-rawān (Khwāja-of-the-running-sand), divides the afore-named two pieces of level land; it has, from top to foot, a strip of sand from which people say the sound of nagarets and tambours issues in the heats.[813]

Again, there are the villages depending on Kābul itself. South-west from the town are great snow mountains[814] where snow falls on snow, and where few may be the years when, falling, it does not light on last year's snow. It is fetched, 12 miles may-be, from these mountains, to cool the drinking water when ice-houses in Kābul are empty. Like the Bāmiān mountains, these are fastnesses. Out of them issue the Harmand (Halmand), Sind, Dūghāba of Qūndūz, and Balkh-āb,[815] so that in a single day, a man might drink of the water of each of these four rivers.

It is on the skirt of one of these ranges (Pamghān) that most of the villages dependent on Kābul lie.[816] Masses of grapes ripen in their vineyards and they grow every sort of fruit in abundance. No-one of them equals Istālīf or Astar-ghach; these must be the [Sidenote: Fol. 136b.] two which Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā used to call his Khurāsān and Samarkand. Pamghān is another of the best, not ranking in fruit and grapes with those two others, but beyond comparison with them in climate. The Pamghān mountains are a snowy range. Few villages match Istālīf, with vineyards and fine orchards on both sides of its great torrent, with waters needing no ice, cold and, mostly, pure. Of its Great garden Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā had taken forcible possession; I took it over, after paying its price to the owners. There is a pleasant halting-place outside it, under great planes, green, shady and beautiful. A one-mill stream, having trees on both banks, flows constantly through the middle of the garden; formerly its course was zig-zag and irregular; I had it made straight and orderly; so the place became very beautiful. Between the village and the valley-bottom, from 4 to 6 miles down the slope, is a spring, known as Khwāja Sih-yārān (Three-friends), round which three sorts of tree grow. A group of planes gives pleasant shade above it; holm-oak [Sidenote: Fol. 137.] (_quercus bīlūt_) grows in masses on the slope at its sides,—these two oaklands (_bīlūtistān_) excepted, no holm-oak grows in the mountains of western Kābul,—and the Judas-tree (_arghwān_)[817] is much cultivated in front of it, that is towards the level ground,—cultivated there and nowhere else. People say the three different sorts of tree were a gift made by three saints,[818] whence its name. I ordered that the spring should be enclosed in mortared stone-work, 10 by 10, and that a symmetrical, right-angled platform should be built on each of its sides, so as to overlook the whole field of Judas-trees. If, the world over, there is a place to match this when the _arghwāns_ are in full bloom, I do not know it. The yellow _arghwān_ grows plentifully there also, the red and the yellow flowering at the same time.[819]

In order to bring water to a large round seat which I had built on the hillside and planted round with willows, I had a channel dug across the slope from a half-mill stream, constantly flowing in a valley to the south-west of Sih-yārān. The date of cutting this channel was found in _jūī-khūsh_ (kindly channel).[820]

Another of the _tūmāns_ of Kābul is Luhūgur (mod. Logar). Its one large village is Chīrkh from which were his Reverence Maulānā Ya`qūb and Mullā-zāda `Us̤mān.[821] Khwāja Aḥmad [Sidenote: Fol. 137b.] and Khwāja Yūnas were from Sajāwand, another of its villages. Chīrkh has many gardens, but there are none in any other village of Luhūgur. Its people are Aūghān-shāl, a term common in Kābul, seeming to be a mispronouncement of Aūghān-sha`ār.[822]

Again, there is the _wilāyat_, or, as some say, _tūmān_ of Ghaznī, said to have been[823] the capital of Sabuk-tīgīn, Sl. Maḥmūd and their descendants. Many write it Ghaznīn. It is said also to have been the seat of government of Shihābu'd-dīn _Ghūrī_,[824] styled Mu`iz̤z̤u'd-dīn in the _T̤abaqāt-i-nāṣirī_ and also some of the histories of Hind.

Ghaznī is known also as _Zābulistān_; it belongs to the Third climate. Some hold that Qandahār is a part of it. It lies 14 _yīghāch_ (south-) west of Kābul; those leaving it at dawn, may reach Kābul between the Two Prayers (_i.e._ in the afternoon); whereas the 13 _yīghāch_ between Adīnapūr and Kābul can never be done in one day, because of the difficulties of the road.

Ghaznī has little cultivated land. Its torrent, a four-mill or five-mill stream may-be, makes the town habitable and fertilizes four or five villages; three or four others are cultivated from under-ground water-courses (_kārez_). Ghaznī grapes are better than those of Kābul; its melons are more abundant; its apples [Sidenote: Fol. 138.] are very good, and are carried to Hindūstān. Agriculture is very laborious in Ghaznī because, whatever the quality of the soil, it must be newly top-dressed every year; it gives a better return, however, than Kābul. Ghaznī grows madder; the entire crop goes to Hindūstān and yields excellent profit to the growers. In the open-country of Ghaznī dwell Hazāra and Afghāns. Compared with Kābul, it is always a cheap place. Its people hold to the Ḥanafī faith, are good, orthodox Muṣalmāns, many keep a three months' fast,[825] and their wives and children live modestly secluded.

One of the eminent men of Ghaznī was Mullā `Abdu'r-raḥmān, a learned man and always a learner (_dars_), a most orthodox, pious and virtuous person; he left this world the same year as Nāṣir Mīrzā (921 AH.-1515 AD.). Sl. Maḥmūd's tomb is in the suburb called Rauẓa,[826] from which the best grapes come; there also are the tombs of his descendants, Sl. Mas`ūd and Sl. Ibrāhīm. Ghaznī has many blessed tombs. The year[827] I took Kābul and Ghaznī, over-ran Kohāt, the plain of Bannū and lands of the Afghāns, and went on to Ghaznī by way of Dūkī (Dūgī) and Āb-istāda, people told me there was a tomb, in a village of Ghaznī, which moved when a benediction on the Prophet was [Sidenote: Fol. 138b.] pronounced over it. We went to see it. In the end I discovered that the movement was a trick, presumably of the servants at the tomb, who had put a sort of platform above it which moved when pushed, so that, to those on it, the tomb seemed to move, just as the shore does to those passing in a boat. I ordered the scaffold destroyed and a dome built over the tomb; also I forbad the servants, with threats, ever to bring about the movement again.